Communications of the ACM
Olpc and Marvell to Develop Xo Tablet Computer For Students
OLPC XO tablet computers will be based on Marvell's Moby reference design.
Credit: Marvell
One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a global organization whose mission is to help provide every child in the world access to a modern education, and Marvell, a supplier of integrated silicon solutions, have agreed to jointly develop a family of next-generation OLPC XO tablet computers based on the Marvell Moby reference design. This new partnership will provide designs and technologies to enable a range of new educational tablets, delivered by OLPC and other education industry leaders, aimed at schools in both the U.S. and developing markets. Marvell has also launched Mobylize, a campaign aimed at improving technology adoption in America's classrooms.
The new family of XO tablets will incorporate elements and new capabilities based on feedback from the nearly 2 million children and families around the world who use the current XO laptop. The XO tablet, for example, will require approximately one watt of power to operate (compared to about 5 watts necessary for the current XO laptop). The XO tablet will also feature a multi-lingual soft keyboard with touch feedback, enabling it to serve millions more children speaking virtually any language anywhere in the world.
The device is also decidedly "constructionist" in nature. By design, it combines hardware and software to deliver a platform that will enable educators, students and families around the world to create their own content, and learn to read, write, and create their own education programs and share all of these experiences via a mesh network model. The device will also feature an application to directly access more than 2 million free books available across the Internet.
"While devices like eReaders and current tablets are terrific literary, media and entertainment platforms, they don't meet the needs of an educational model based on making things, versus just consuming them. Today's learning environments require robust platforms for computation, content creation and experimentation—and all that at a very low cost," says Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of One Laptop per Child. "Through our partnership with Marvell, OLPC will continue our focus on designing computers that enable children in the developing world to learn through collaboration, as well as providing connectivity to the world's body of knowledge."
"Marvell has made a long-term commitment to improving education and inspiring a revolution in the application of technology in the classroom. The Moby tablet platform—and our partnership with OLPC—represents our joint passion and commitment to give students the power to learn, create, connect and collaborate in entirely new ways," says Weili Dai, Marvell's co-founder and vice president and general manager of the Consumer and Computing Business Unit. "Marvell's cutting edge technology . . . will fundamentally improve the way students learn by giving them more efficient, relevant—even fun tools to use. Education is the most pressing social and economic issue facing America. I believe the Marvell Moby tablet can ignite a life-long passion for learning in all students everywhere."
The One Laptop per Child Foundation (OLPC at) is a nonprofit organization created by Nicholas Negroponte and others from the MIT Media Lab to design, manufacture and distribute laptop computers that are inexpensive enough to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern forms of education.
Powered by Marvell's ARMADA 610 application processor, the Moby tablet features gigahertz processor speed, 1080p full-HD encode and decode, intelligent power management, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM/GPS connectivity, 3-D graphics and support for multiple software standards. The Moby platform also features a built-in camera and Marvell's .11n Mobile Hotspot which allows Wi-Fi access that supports up to eight concurrent users connected to the Internet via a cellular broadband connection. The low power mobile tablet is expressly for long-battery life.
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